Mt. Everest Height Mystery May Be Answered

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Believe it or not, nobody knows for sure the true height of the
world's tallest peak,
Mount Everest.

It was generally thought to be 29,028 feet high after it was
measured by an Indian survey in 1954. But China
says the world's highest mountain (which it calls Zhūmùlǎngmǎ
Fēng) is only 29,015 feet -- China's view excludes the snowcap
from its calculations.

Now the Himalayan state of Nepal,
who's border with China straddles the peak, is appealing for
international help to finally get the true height. Nepal's
state-run Survey Department told the news agency AFP it was
seeking to obtain grants and expertise from international donors,
as well as the global scientific community.

"This is part of the ongoing three-year Nepal government project
to settle the mountain's height. But we have neither the
scientific expertise nor the resources to carry out such tasks,"
director-general Krishna Raj BC said.

Until a British survey of the Indian subcontinent in 1852, it was
thought the tallest mountains in the world were in the South
American Andes. But in an amazing feat of audacity and
mathematics, the surveyors managed to establish the height of
Mountain Everest (or Peak XV as it was called at the time) at
29,002 feet, just 26 feet off the current height.

The Great Trigonometric Survey of British India involved a
"theodolite," a mathematical measuring device that was the size
of a small horse.

When you consider that the government of Nepal didn't allow the
British survey team into the country and were forced to view and
measure the mountain from over 100 miles away, their achievement
becomes even more astounding.

Wondering where the English name for Mount Everest comes from?
The person who began the 50-year survey of the Indian
Subcontinent was Sir George Everest.

The plan today to finally get the correct height of Mount Everest
will be very different, but perhaps as difficult. It will involve
Nepalese
sherpas carrying Global Positioning System
equipment into the treacherous mountains to get a fix on the
summit.

Stations will be set up at three different locations, and using
the GPS gear should measure the peak within two years.

It won't settle the dispute between the Nepalese and the Chinese,
however, unless they agree to include the snowcap on top -- but
at least the wider world will know the mountain's true height.

One ineluctable factor merits consideration in these precise
calculations: The Indian subcontinent tectonic plate is still
smashing into the Himalayan plate, a process that has been going
on for millions of years. That's what created Mount Everest in
the first place.

Perhaps within a thousand years, it might be worth measuring the
peak again.